


The Same Ol' Starlight in Your Eyes

by Gracefully



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Bad Jokes, Canon Era, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 01:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5608132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gracefully/pseuds/Gracefully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Toye goes to visit Luz after the war, a lot of things are exactly the same, but some things are different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Same Ol' Starlight in Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> la la la what's proofreading or an actual ending? human trash is lazyy. PTSD is barely there for even a moment.

 

When Toye goes to visit Luz, a lot of things are exactly the same as he remembers from their time in Europe together. For example, the exhilarated, “Joe!” that greets Toye as he steps off of the train and into a mass of people is the same. Luz emerges with the same smile as ever, a slow grin that could be passed off as sly but is actually just Luz revelling in the moment.

Luz lands a hand on his shoulder and grins up at him and that is the same as Luz always did when they greeted one another. Then, even though they’re in public, Luz pulls him into a quick hug and okay, that is different. Toye stiffens up without thinking, feeling Luz’s hair by his ear and their chests are touching and okay, wow. Toye is so startled that he almost falls forward, off of his crutches but Luz luckily feels him falling and catches him with a chuckle. Luz’s hand is splayed on Toye’s chest and suddenly Toye’s stomach is all fluttery like when he saw Millie Graves in her pink dress at the prom.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, man, I forgot about ah, about your leg.” Toye was used to it, by then. He had been out of the godawful recovery hospital for almost a month, and was already feeling accustomed to hopping around.

“It’s not so bad,” he said with a shrug. Luz’s hand fell from his chest. Luz looked almost uncomfortable for a second, as people streamed around them.

“Come on, I got my car outside.” Luz said, picking up Toye’s military bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Toye didn’t come dressed in uniform, he figured that it would be too soon if he had to wear his Army greens ever again. The bag, however, was still of use to him. Sturdy and with his name stitched into the side, it had served Toye all through Europe.

Toye hobbles after Luz as he weaves his way through the crowd, calling behind him, “You seen much of ol’ Guarnere?”

“Yeah, actually,” Toye says, dodging a small child. “We were in rooms right next to each other at the recovery hospital. We gave the nurses hell, stealing wheelchairs and racing up and down the halls.” Toye chuckles at the memory. Luz laughs aloud. “He left a few weeks before me with his bride.”

“She a looker?” Luz asks. Toye figures it’s from curiosity.

“She’s beautiful, and they love each other very much.” Toye smiles as he remembers the look on Bill’s face as he talked about Frances.

“What about you, Joe, you got a bride waiting for you?” Luz asks. Toye is surprised to hear a tiny strain of something indefinable in his voice.

“Nah, I’m flying solo for now,” Toye says, thinking about how he’s probably the only Easy Co. veteran to not already be married.

“Well that makes two of us,” Luz says with a smile, holding the door to the station open for Joe. That answered the question Toye was going to ask next. Things fell silent as Luz led Toye over to an old, beaten Ford truck. He tossed Toye’s bag in the back and held the door open as Toye slides in, landing on the cracked leather seats with a thud.

The cab smelled of cigarette smoke and Luz. It causes Toye some pause to realize he knew what Luz smelled like. He shifts his crutches to the side, so that they poke out of the open window a little. Luz, meanwhile, is whistling as he walks around the front of the car and slides in his side. There’s a small Hawaiian figurine that wobbles as the truck starts up with a groan.

Toye takes out two cigarettes, lights both, and passes one to Luz, who hums gratefully. _The first lungful of smoke is always the best,_ Toye thinks as he exhales out the window. Now that they’re on their way, presumably back to Luz’s apartment, Toye has a chance to finally look at Luz.

His hair is longer than Toye remembers, and a little lighter. His skin is a little darker, and as Toye squints, he realizes he can pick out a few freckles on Luz’s face. His arms, bare as Luz tosses his jacket onto the floor, are toned and tan.

“What kind of work have you been doing, George?” Toye asks, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

“I’m mainly a handyman, but I pick up the odd job here or there,” Luz says with a shrug. “What about you?”

“I can’t work, really, with my leg and all, but I have an interview with a factory in a couple of weeks.” Toye feels like it’s nothing compared to doing construction or being in an office.

“Well, whatever works for you.” Luz says, taking a drag of his cigarette. A smile suddenly comes onto his face. He turns slightly and asks, “Hey, Joe, what do you call a cow with no legs?”

Toye sighs. “What.”

“Ground beef.” The shit-eating grin that spreads across Luz’s face is the same smile that Toye remembers through all of Europe. And though the joke fills him with irrational rage, it also brings a smile on his face. He reaches over and ruffles Luz’s hair in a roughhouse kind of way, and says,

“Oh, I’ve missed you, George.” And when Luz turns to smile at him with a smile that sends warmth cascading through Toye’s body, he has to try and recall if that is the same or different.

 

Luz’s apartment is small, so Luz says he’ll move to the couch, it’s no big deal, Toye can take the bed. Toye puts up a good fight, but Luz is persuasive. He, however, ends up sitting on the couch as Luz bustles around the kitchen, preparing dinner. He jokes with Toye the whole time, and Toye can’t help but feel how relaxed he is.

Luz’s home is warm and well-worn and Luz is preparing dinner for them and Luz is wearing a soft green shirt and for once in a long while, everything seems to be working for Joe Toye.

Later, they eat dinner together on the couch: pasta with real tomato sauce and bread warmed in the oven. Toye says how good it is, and Luz keeps trying to pretend like it’s no big deal, but Toye can see the small smile that he’s trying to hide.

Afterwards, they bundle up and head down to the local bar and they drink. They don’t drink to cope, as Toye has done a couple of times now. Instead, they drink to have fun, and after hours of laughing and visiting and leaning a little too close to each other, they head back to Luz’s place.

Somehow, they end up both in Luz’s bed, in a warm tangle of limbs and blankets and pillows and Toye can’t find it in himself to care. Instead, he falls asleep conscious of Luz’s arm thrown across his stomach.

He wakes from a dream that fills him with dread. He jolts awake, sweat beading his brow and with a pounding heart. He closes his eyes and all he can see is snow and blood and bone fragments and for a moment it’s almost too much.

Luz stirs from his sleep, and Toye realizes that he’s curled all the way around his body. Luz’s leg is tangled in Toye’s and for some reason Toye’s hand is in Luz’s hair. “Joe?” Luz asks sleepily, resting his chin on Toye’s chest, and this is all so new to Toye that he can barely respond,

“Yeah?” his voice sounds even hoarser than usual to himself.

“Something wrong?” Luz asks, sliding his hand away from Toye’s ribcage in order to push himself up and regard Toye.

“Nothing, just a bad dream,” Toye says, blinking rapidly. “Go back to sleep.”

Luz regards Toye for a long while before saying softly, “Yeah, I get those too.” before sinking back and readjusting himself. He lays next to Toye this time, positioning Toye’s arm so that it wraps around his chest. Toye’s words are in his throat, but he stays quiet and lets Luz arrange himself so that he’s comfortable.

He eventually falls asleep with Luz spooned in front of him, and Toye can’t help but think that even though he’s slept with plenty of women, he’s never really done this with anyone.

 

In the morning, Luz is gone by the time Toye wakes up. That saddens him a little, but he hobbles up and gets dressed nonetheless. There’s an odd sort of...emptiness in Toye’s bones as he walks around Luz’s apartment. Luz shows up, back from the grocery store with a brown paper bag of groceries.

And as they make small talk and joke around, there’s an itch under Toye’s skin, one he can’t place. In an effort to define it, he suggests that they go see Dead of the Night while it’s still in theaters. Luz shrugs. “I’ve seen it seven times already, but okay.”

They drive to the movie theater and Luz gets the largest bag of popcorn they carry, and a coke. Toye gets a bar of chocolate and calls it good.

They sit in the very back, and there are only a few other people in the theater, so Toye suddenly feels like they’re very alone. Luz spends the entire first half cracking jokes and quoting characters verbatim, impersonations spot-on. It’s endearing for about five minutes. Luz crunches loudly on his popcorn and slurps at his soda, causing them a glare from a woman sitting in the front row.

Finally, Toye decides he has to shut Luz up somehow. For some reason, his brain decides leaning over and kissing Luz roughly on the mouth is the best option. Luz goes still instantly, and after a moment, Toye pulls away slowly. Luz’s eyes are wide and shocked, but they also look eager. Toye can’t decide if it’s the light of the movie, but he swears Luz is blushing by the time he pulls away. Huh. Who would've thought that a kiss was the only way to get Luz to shut up and blush.

Things are quiet between them for the rest of the movie, but a minute or so after the kiss, Luz slips his hand inside Toye’s, so Toye counts this as a double win. He smiles a small, satisfied smile as Luz gently runs his fingertips over his lips. Toye wonders if he can do it again, maybe back at Luz’s apartment, later.


End file.
